A Plum kind of Birthday
by MomofPhoenix
Summary: This is going to be a three chapter short. I hope yo enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

A/N not mine, I own nothing.

October 12, a date that is fixed in the minds of the Plum universe. Why? It's Stephanie Plum's birthday. Today we celebrate the craziness that is her life.

This is my birthday present to myself as well. I celebrate my birthday on October 19, exactly thirteen days before Halloween. I am working on Someone for Her, but I got a little side tracked.

This will be a three chapter story starting today, posting again on October 19 and 31. Enjoy!

A Plum Kind of Birthday

Gah! Here it is again, October 12. I am another year older, and still no closer to having what I really want in life.

Why do I even bother? I'm Stephanie Plum, that's why. I have been called tenasious at best, and a walking disaster at my worst. I have had my cars blown up and my apartment firebombed; I have been kidnapped, shot stabbed and thrown of a bridge. **YET**, I continue to work as a BEA.

I have been married, divorced, lied to, and cheated on. I finally ended the back and forth crap with Morelli for good, I'm not a freaking tennis ball, and I was starting to get whiplash.

I am expected at home for a birthday dinner of my Mom's lasagna, and pineapple upside down cake. Let's not forget the huge dose of guilt that will be served with it. I have to be there before six pm or everything would be ruined, since it is my birthday I would be in more trouble than normal.

I am currently laying on my bed staring at he ceiling. I know that the man that I love, and will never have, is trying to be sneaky and is in my front room. The man has serious stealth, but our connection runs so deep that I know when he's near. What is batman, doing?

I made my way to my bedroom door, to see if I could hear what the heck he was doing. Silence, nothing but silence. Those damn bat ears must have heard me.

"Babe, I know you're awake. Come out here please."

Daman bats ears, I thought to myself. I heard a booming laugh from the other side of the door. I must have said that out loud.

"Be out in a minute, gotta throw some pants on," I said smirking. I heard him groan and a series of soft thumps against a wall. I could picture him, st the wall softly thumping his head against it to regain his composure.

I put on a pair of yoga pants and made my way to my living room. I stopped in my tracks.

My mouth dropped open as I looked around the room. There were loose flowers laying across ever surface.

"Hunh...what?" I sputtered.

I turned around and found Ranger standing behind me. He was dressed in a black Armani suit, with a plum colored tie. He had his hair down, and it fell gently around his shoulders.

Then he completely fried my brain and smiled at me.

_Holy Hot Flashes, my panties are ruined, pretty sure my yoga pants are too. _

_Ranger growled at me, his eyes darkening. He began to stalk towards me, with a predatory look on his face. I took off running to the bedroom. Ranger chased me. We both were laughing. _

_I was enjoying playful Ranger. I certainly never saw this side of him before. When he caught me, he looked into my eyes and slowly lowered his mouth to mine._

_"Happy Birthday, Babe," he softly whispered. _

_I knew, in that moment, something had changed between us. This time there was no going back._

_He was slightly winded when he pulled back from the kiss. The look of tenderness on his face had me blushing._

_"Go pack a bag, Babe. We're going on a small vacation. We'll stop at your parents for dinner first. Make sure to bring that blue bikini, shorts, and skirts."_

_I just staired at him. I was trying to wrap my brain around this. Why are we going on vacation? There mist be a skip he needs to get somewhere and we'll stop to see Julie along the way._

_"This is someday, Babe." he whispered in my ear from behind me, "I love you, and am ready if you are."_

_I squealed, turned around and kissed him. He laughed as he watched me get throw the required items into my suitcase. _

_As soon as I was done, he grabbed my hand and we were off. This is the perfect way to start our someday._

_A/N I wanted to have this up on the 12th, but that was a no go on my end. Also, somehow my text is stuck on italics, trying to fix that, so bear with me._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N not mine, I own nothing.

I am so sorry that I didn't get this up as fast as I wanted. I had a great birthday. I sent everyone away for the day...bliss, it was pure bliss. I was even given a beautiful little puppy and named her SuzyQ.

Happy Belated Birthday to DimariS! I hope your's was a good one too! This chapter is for you!

A Plum Kind of Birthday

Once Ranger loaded my bag into the back of the SUV and we were under way; I noticed we were heading in the direction of my parents house. I groaned. This was so not right.

"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can be onto warmer weather," Ranger said, with a squeeze of my hand.

As we pulled up to the door, I noticed that the Burg radar must be broken today. My mom and grandma weren't waiting outside for us. This could be good, or very, very bad.

Ranger opened my door then helped me out of the SUV. He placed his hand at the small of my back, guiding me up the walk.

I opened the front door slowly. I heard my mom's voice from the kitchen. She must be on the phone. Whoever is on the other end of that call is getting yelled at. I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but both of Ranger's eyebrows went up in surprise. Now, I was worried.

I walked into the kitchen, just in time to hear my mom tell the other person to go to hell. My jaw hit the floor. My mom did not speak like that to anyone, she is a burg housewife, a Catholic mother...she was Helen Plum.

She turned around to face us, her cheeks flushed red. I could see she was flustered and embarrassed.

"I am so sorry you had to hear that. That Angela Morelli, thinks you have ruined that no good son of hers. He's been suspended from TPD because of...well never mind. Why are you here so early Stephanie? Your birthday dinner isn't until six tonight."

"Mom, you remember Ranger."

"Of course! Welcome to our house, Carlos. You know you are welcome here anytime."

"Thank you, Mrs. Plum."

"Now, I've told you before, you can call me Helen."

That's it. I have stepped into an alternate universe. The pod people have come and taken my mom. What they've done with her, I'm not sure. I only hope they don't return the old one.

"Mom, about dinner. Ranger and I are going on vacation. So, I won't be here."

"Oh, Stephanie! That is wonderful! You and Carlos both need one. You two work so hard keeping the streets safe. Unlike that no good Morelli boy. He was never good enough for you, I don't know why you kept going back to him."

Ranger and I had the same look of befuddlement on our faces. Who was this woman? This was not my mom, it couldn't be.

She shooed us towards the door.

"Have a great vacation and take lots of pictures. Carlos, I expect you and Stephanie for dinner the first Sunday you come back."

Once we were seated back in the car, the shock still hadn't worn off of either of us. After a few moments of stunned silence, Ranger let out a bark of laughter.

"Babe, did your grandma finally drug your mom's Jim Bean?"

"I think the pod people took over. What the hell was that?!"

"I don't know, but I say we run with it."

With a shake of his head Ranger started the car, and made his way to Philly. Hmmmmm...where are we going if we have to fly out of the Philadelphia airport?

"Smell something burning, Babe."

"Trying to figure out where we are going."

"I can promise that it's very warm, and that you've never been there before."

I just looked over at him and saw a grin on his face. I sat back in my seat, and promptly fell asleep.

"Babe, wake up. We need to get on the plane now."

I slowly stretched and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I looked around and was surprised to see we were on a private tarmac, with a sleek black jet waiting for us to board.

Ranger unbuckled my seat bealt and gabe me a hand out of the SUV. He pulled me to him, kissing me senseless.

We were interrupted by a throat clearing. I looked up and found Lester and Cal.

"Pretty sure her tonsils have been thoroughly checked, Primo," Lester said to us.

I blushed and buried my face in Ranger's chest. Ranger glared at Lester, but surprisingly didn't say anything.

"Angel, are you ready? We have a long flight and Lester and I will be at the wheel." Cal informed me.

"Crap, I hate flying to begin with, and you're letting Santos fly the plane?!"

"No worries, Babe. He's the best pilot I know."

"Yeah, he's also like a kid with ADHD on pixie sticks, just a bad combination."

Ranger laughed out loud, Cal was doubled over, and Lester looked like I had hit him where it counts.

"Thanks, Steph. I'll remember that. When we go down, I'll make sure that your side goes down first." He was grinning as he said this, so I knew that he was teasing me.

As we got on the plane I made note of the interior. The beautiful cream leather seats, the plush beige carpeting, and the white roses that seemed to fill up every space. What really caught my attention was the bouquet of large whit calla lillies that had a blue ribbon and a card around them.

Ranger placed his hand at the small of my back and guided me over to the seat in front of them. I sat down and he handed me the card, kissed my forehead then walked to the front of the plane.

My hand trembled slightly as I opened the envelope. I took a deep breath and began to read.

Babe,

I am a man of few words, yet I am compelled to write this down.

Today, we are leaving for the trip of a lifetime. Today, I hope that we can begin our happily ever after.

I have spoken of someday with you, only to have it pointed out that someday is not a day of the week. I no longer want someday, I want forever.

Te amo...I love you.

Carlos

I had tears softly spilling from my eyes and I slowly wiped them away. I looked up from them card in my hand, only to find Ranger, no Carlos, kneeling in front of me. He had an expression of pure love and wonder on his face.

I realized that he was holding a small velvet box in his hand.

"Babe, will you be my wife?"

"Yes." I whispered softly.

A/N. I am so sorry that this was so late! Only one chapter left!

Thank you for all of the reviews! I really appreciate them.

I also managed to complete a challenge in this one, I think it had been issued by spifftygm. Someday is not a day of the dance, so glad I could throw that in there!


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